Lottery dream comes through

'I definitely will be taking care of my parents'

Teri Bonfield of Westwood did, and she hit the Ohio Super Lotto jackpot. She and three employees of a Toledo, Ohio, firm who hold the other winning ticket will split Saturday's $20 million prize.

Bonfield took the current value of her share in a lump sum, almost $3.1 million after taxes.

"A friend of mine had died of cancer; she was 24," Bonfield said Monday. The friend, Tina Siegel, appeared in a dream about a year-and-a-half ago, Bonfield said, and left her with such a strong impression of a set of numbers that she wrote them down when she awoke -- 10-15-16-17-18-42.

Bonfield, at 30 the president of a home health care agency that employs 50 to 60 nurses and other employees, started playing the numbers every week. She bought this week's tickets at Don's Hi-Lo Beverage in Bridgetown.

She was no stranger to the occasional wager (a 25¢ slot machine once paid off $1,750 for her), but she was befuddled when a friend, Shelly Zachritz, called her past midnight Saturday after recognizing the familiar consecutive numbers in the winning pick.

Mom Judy Bonfield packed a pistol to guard the winning chit when she heard the news. Dad's pramatic, too. "I tried to put her in reality and told her she's pulling down about half of what (Reds shortstop) Barry Larkin does," said Tom Bonfield.

Teri Bonfield splurged on a meal at The Precinct and a limo ride to the lottery office, but she plans to make conservative investments with the bulk of her winnings and bring in some help to run her business. "I definitely will be taking care of my parents," she said.

She is sure about another item the prize money will cover: a donation to the College of Mount St. Joseph in the name of her friend and fellow graduate, Tina Siegel.

This article was published by The Cincinnati Enquirer on October 5, 1993 and was written by Adam Weintraub.